Can we talk about calisthenics?

[VonMeister]

Agreed with this, however wouldn't cardio have a leg up for lung capacity and cardio stamina?

Anaerobic and aerobic programming would train both if you needed it.....but if you're doing activities that need those things, like surfing... already you already have what you need. The guys doing this at an elite level...like the big wave guys who have a need to deal with things you and I will never deal with do need specific programming for dealing with levels of stress.... and chemical changes that happen as your blood oxygen levels decrease while being underwater for extended periods.
BUT the best way to have the "cardio" to run a marathon is to not worry about it and just do your marathon training...although I will concede that breathing cadence is something that needs to be trained for these athletes.

 

[VonMeister]

I would also like to add that I entered the dark side beginning today. For the next several weeks I am doing a muscle capacity block. Main lifts at 6 reps and all supplemental work unilateral. Barbell split squats, step ups, landmines, and snatch grip shrugs for good measure.

 

[freeride76]

"and all supplemental work unilateral."

What's that mean?

 

[VonMeister]

"and all supplemental work unilateral."

What's that mean?

Unilateral for instance is one leg at a time vs the traditional squat which has both working together.

 

[freeride76]

Fair enough.

 

[GromsDad]

I love body weight stuff.

If you can do 30 pull ups you are gonna like the way you look I guarantee it.

Until at 50 you tear something in your forearm one day because you're pushing yourself to get to a number. Took over a year to recover from that one.

 

[santacruzin]

Until at 50 you tear something in your forearm one day because you're pushing yourself to get to a number. Took over a year to recover from that one.

I dont ever go to failure on any exercise. Gotta work out smarter as you get older.
Appreciated the insight here on total volume of sets vs not going heavy.

Doing less work and getting better results.

Also loving runnning trails with the 40lb vest. That sh!t is brutal!

 

[SurfDoc]

Cautious weight training in the elderly is fine. Personally, I think it’s better to concentrate on cardiovascular and supplement it with lighter weights and higher reps.

 

[PRCD]

 

[VonMeister]

Cautious weight training in the elderly is fine. Personally, I think it’s better to concentrate on cardiovascular and supplement it with lighter weights and higher reps.

I think we have ample studies that show this isn't true....but here's an MD who is a subject matter expert, peer reviewed and published.

See #7

 

[Chocki]

JP confuses me. Is he a comic, alt right, life coach/motivational speaker, or just a grifter?

 

[Autoprax]

Strength is specific. In order to become physically stronger in a meaningful way you need to train specifically. Running or other forms of endurance training are antagonistic to the building and retention of muscle mass. There are plenty of ways to get stronger, rarely are any of them bad. Finding the way that is going to build long term adherence to a program is more important than the implement used. I like a barbell because it is the most efficient way to get whole body strong, doesn't require a huge time commitment and has a very short learning curve.

Cardio improvements are very quick and lasting and do not need much more than normal life activities (provided a person is meeting the minimum guidelines for being physically active) or sport specific practice/activity. People are conditioned to believe that more is better and necessary when it comes to cardio. The truth is that activities that make you tired and sweaty offer very little lasting benefit or much of any benefit at all above your day to day cardio requirements. Excess cardio has almost zero benefits for weightloss or cardiac risk factors...things like cholesterol levels, blood pressure, heart health, plaque etc. The popular cardio fads...Zumba, cardio kick boxing, spinning/cycle studios, and now the home versions like Peloton all have very low adherence because they don't really do anything. The short term benefit is real for a sedentary person but beyond a couple weeks ..that's it.

If you surf regularly you are way beyond the minimum activity level for good physical health and you are getting plenty of both anaerobic and aerobic activity.

What strength training today does is allows you to continue to do those activities much longer and later in life at a much lower risk of injury. Waiting until you are older to begin training is like going to the gas station after you've run out of gas.

Two resources I would encourage everyone to use and explore are "pubmed" and" up to date". Both publish peer reviews studies based on actual science by experts that aren't getting paid for their opinion.

I always felt like surfing and body building style lifting were at odds with each other.

I think you could lift in a way that wasn't but I didn't.

If I surf and then go lift I am smoked.

 

[Autoprax]

I think we have ample studies that show this isn't true....but here's an MD who is a subject matter expert, peer reviewed and published.

See #7

Heavy is a relative term.

What is heavy for me now was light for 35 year old me.

I think you lift as heavy as you can without hurting yourself.

You need to signal overload to the systems so they adapt.

I think the body will fool you into not doing this if you are not careful.

 

[Autoprax]

JP confuses me. Is he a comic, alt right, life coach/motivational speaker, or just a grifter?

He started out as a mediocre comic. He realized the right wingers were an easy to please audience. You just have to jeer and mock the left.

So many mediocre comedians took this route.

 

[VonMeister]

I always felt like surfing and body building style lifting were at odds with each other.

I think you could lift in a way that wasn't but I didn't.

If I surf and then go lift I am smoked.

Bodybuilding is for men who are into male body worship. I wouldn't recommended for any other lifestyle than that.

 

[Autoprax]

I agree. At the time it was fun.

Lifting weights is one my life's great pleasures.

 

[VonMeister]

Heavy is a relative term.

What is heavy for me now was light for 35 year old me.

I think you lift as heavy as you can without hurting yourself.

You need to signal overload to the systems so they adapt.

I think the body will fool you into not doing this if you are not careful.

Heavy is relative to the trainees ability. If you can do 10+ reps of compound lifts, it's not heavy.

The surfdoc made a general statement that as people get older they should focus on lighter weights and higher reps and cardio. Based on what??? There isn't any current fact based medical evidence that suggests a limit on external resistance like he described but plenty of evidence that shows the positive lifestyle and health improvements associated with training at reasonable degree's of heavy resistance, especially for senior or master trainees. Additionally "cardio" isn't a useful term when describing any type of physical training and no matter what type or how much you do it doesn't replace the health benefits of strength training.

As people age we are conditioned to just take it easy. You wake up with some back pain...just take it easy. Joint pain or stiffness...just take it easy. There are so many people in their 50's walking around atrophied, wearing neoprene over their joints, grabbing longboards and other sport specific "improvement" equipment and wearing this like it's a badge of honor and I'm like, bro.....you didn't live that life. You played adult rec league softball. I couldn't imagine what kind of pussification it takes to accept that. These same people are convinced that some posture defect has them in pain and disabled. While posture related injuries have been throughly debunked and really only used by chiropractors to sell services...what does that say about you and your level of fitness if you feel sitting still is too stressful.

Everyday you avoid sensible strength training you're just buying in to some arbitrary age defined disability that you or someone you considered to have some expertise programed you to believe.

 

[Autoprax]

I think "lighter weights and higher reps and cardio" would work as advice for detrained old people starting out.

I lot of people don't even walk.

On a side note. I started tumbling again. Just doing summersaults on a mat. That is so great for old people. Going from standing to summersaulting has such a great effect on the body.

You feel like you could just fall over and be fine

 

[VonMeister]

I think "lighter weights and higher reps and cardio" would work as advice for detrained old people starting out.

I lot of people don't even walk.

On a side note. I started tumbling again. Just doing summersaults on a mat. That is so great for old people. Going from standing to summersaulting has such a great effect on the body.

You feel like you could just fall over and be fine

Sure everything is specific to the person...but the goal remains the same....to improve the physical health of the person. To say "focus on higher rep low weight" is discounting the health needs of a patient for no other reason than to sound like you have some empirical knowledge on the subject. In order to improve physical health you need to appropriately use all the tools available, which include both heavy and light weights. There isn't a scenario where a trainee should not be doing heavy repetitions relative to their current strength and conditioning capabilities.

 

[averagejoe]

If your goal is to just have big muscles and look ripped just do steroids. There's no health benefits to having excess muscle tissue and low body fat so if you're not concerned about overall health and injury prevention steroids is the best bang for your buck. I would recommend cycles of tren and testosterone.

What’s your take on a cruisy level of Cypionate for older guys? In one of the starting strength podcasts, Rippetoe talks about guys in their 50s that work out in his gym that get on say 300mg per week and feel 10 years younger. Helps a lot with energy and recovery.